News digest 13 January 2015

News digest 13 January 2015

13 January 2015

Today’s digest covers the first reports of solid action across the capital as London’s bus drivers walked out at 04:00 this morning to demand a single rate of pay and call for an end to pay inequality which can see bus drivers on London’s streets doing the same jobs for wildly different rates of pay. 27,000 bus workers voted for action. They are taking action because - in contrast to tube drivers - there is not one collective pay deal for bus drivers in the capital, instead pay is negotiated on a company by company basis leading to wide pay inequality and disparities for drivers doing the same job and even driving the same routes. London regional officer Wayne King said: “Strike action is the last resort. We’ve been forced into this position by the operators’ refusal to even meet with us. Passengers sitting side by side on the same route expect to pay the same fare, so why shouldn’t drivers expect to be paid the same rate?” Exactly. Follow all the action out and about on London’s streets (see the Mirror’s liveblog) and keep up to date with the Twitter hashtag #BusStrike…